The Brother's Karamazov
Fyodor Dostoevsky
1880
It took seven years and three tries to read this. The first time was high school. I got through about 100 pages before giving up. I had read Crime and Punishment that year, but if I’m being honest, I didn’t really understand it. When I went to university I tried to read it again and failed. It wasn’t until I began a lazy office job at a community college when I finished the entire volume. At the time I was depressed, anxious and lonely. Still am. This time I read a few outside summaries to make sure I understood everything. I sympathize a lot with Aloyosha; the way he interacts with those school children, the faith he has and the love he has for others. It’s hard to describe why this book is so memorable to me, but I know I will never forget it.
Van Gogh: A Life
Steven Naifeh, Gregory White Smith
2011
Starry night was something I used to hate. Every time I saw it on posters or coffee mugs or shirts, I thought it was one of the most overrated things I had ever seen. And then I read his story. Kind and creative, but forever outcast by society. In his lifetime he never found a place he fit. He Punished himself by walking barefoot for hours on end in raging thunderstorms. When I see his paintings now I think of the life he went through. I know everyone had it hard back then, but he took those hardships and made them better. When I paint and draw and write things like this on NeoCities, I think often of him. How no one will read this but me. How I will never make money from my creations and I will die alone and in poverty. Van Gogh gives me the strength to carry on and keep living one more day.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
J. K. Rowling
1998
I love the book cover in person, I think all 7 of the original Harry Potter covers are some of the best book covers I’ve ever seen. All of them are colorful and charming. The fact that they were made with oil pastels makes me feel good inside. As someone who went to art school I find comfort in knowing they were made without computers. Even the page at the end of every volume dedicated to explaining the designer’s choice of font. When a book has a page about the font choice, I know I’m going to love it. Books one and two of the series I find very comforting, like a warm blanket or a cup of hot chocolate. I go back to them from time to time to cheer me up when I'm feeling depressed and lonely, which happens a lot these days.
Imaginaerum
Nightwish
2011
A young boy and his family explore a frozen forest. He and his sister run off into the woods chasing each other. The brother hears a faint sweet strain of music. Nervously, he goes towards the sound. “You can’t hide forever?” she jokes, as his sister runs back to their parents. Peering through thick leaves, the brother has found a clearing. In the center an old man playing a magical piano that glows brighter with each note. Creeping closer, the player beckons the little boy forward with a smile. The boy is pulled closer in a trance. As he is a few steps away he is sucked inside another world. This is track 1, ‘Takatalvi’ (Winter’s Magic). The rest of the tracks follow the boy as he explores his new world. Crossing a river filled with ghosts. A glowing red demon, urging him to cross the deadly rapids. A motherly apparition glows a bright blue. The apparition warns him to stay, trying to protect him from the demon’s malice. They battle it out in the ‘Ghost River’. With the apparition’s help the boy crosses safely. Onward he encounters a haunted carnival, mermaids, a lonesome hotel, and a thrilling rollercoaster. The next day the boy returns through the portal back to the clearing he left from. Wandering back up to the parking lot he sees a girl that looks familiar.
“Hey, I’m back, I’m right here” he shouts.
She turns around. “Do I know you?”
“I’m your brother, don’t you remember?”
“My brother disappeared three years ago.”
The Unforgiving Penance
Within Temptation
2011
Night falls upon New York. Bang! Bang! Sinead falls with a thump, bleeding out on the pavement. 18 years old. An abusive mother, a drunk, a cheater and a thief. A green glow radiates inside the alleyway as Mother Maiden appears floating, looking down on Sinead patiently waiting to die. The translucent apparition of Mother Maiden begins to speak, “Some may call it a curse, a life like mine, but others, a blessing…Someone has to take a stand against evil. Why should it not be me?”
Maiden makes her a promise; a demon is terrorizing the city. Kill the creature before sunrise. Failure will leave her on her original path down to hell. Success will buy her passage on a stairway to the skies. Running through the streets Sinead is cold and alone. In the middle of the night Sinead runs through the streets, battling anxiety, shame and the other much more physical threats she encounters across the city. In a desperate last battle, she slays the demon with a wooden stake as it shrieks out in agony. Moments before sunrise, the gun falls from her hand. She bends down to grab it as her hands pass through the fallen object. She stands back up smiling. She begins to walk up a translucent stairway that has descended before her, onwards to the heavens above.
Auri
Auri
2018
The Space Between, I Hope Your World Is Kind and Night 13 are all views on how Auri sees the world from her perspective. Her desire to help, but her shyness preventing her from doing so. Her curiosity bubbling out like an overflowing teapot. The Skeleton Tree is The Cthaeh. The Desert Flower is Auri and Kvothe resting upon the rooftops. The name of the wind is a direct nod to Kvothe’s discoveries throughout the books. Aphrodite rising is a reference to Denna as she rises to become a powerful sympathist. It also hearkens to Denna using her seductive deceptions to draw Kvothe in, to bring him closer. Savant shows different parts of Kvothe’s journey to becoming a master at The University and his failures along the way. Underthing Solstice is my favorite track and is of course a direct look into Auri’s world and her life in The Underthing. Them That Chantarelles is just fun.
Shine
Indica
2014
Indica is one of my favorite bands. They’re a pop rock girl group from Finland. Originally all their albums were in Finnish. In the late 2000’s the band ran into Tuomas Holopainen one of the founders of Nightwish. Somehow or another the next few years Indica released two versions of every album: one in Finnish, one in English. Shine is one of the versions in English. It does not follow as much of a cohesive story as my other favorite albums, but it makes me happy. Yellow is my favorite color, and Hummingbird is my favorite track. Overall it’s very positive, upbeat and positive. Something we could use a bit more of if you ask me.
